Throughout her working life, Gertrude Flentge has been involved in developing, hosting, and supporting arts and cultural institutions, collectives, and networks, with the aim of systemic change towards more collaborative, inclusive, and just approaches to life, art, and economy.
Flentge graduated in 1996 in Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Groningen. For the past twelve years, she has managed the international cultural program at DOEN Foundation, supporting cultural scenes and collaboration in Africa, Asia, and Latin-America. Gertrude Flentge also works towards debureaucratizing and decolonizing funding practice. In 2007 she co-initiated ArtsCollaboratory, a self-organized ecosystem in which twenty-four arts organizations together with DOEN develop new ways of being and doing in art, organizing, and funding practice. Her work at DOEN and ArtsCollaboratory was inspired by previous experiences coordinating networks and supporting artists and cultural organizations at the Felix Meritis Foundation, Amsterdam (1996–1999); the RAIN Artists’ Initiatives Network at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam (1999–2004); and Hivos (2005–2008), amongst others.